The short version
- Calling comes first. Calling and vocation is the most common theme among participants (187 of 550 participant sharings).
- Discernment matters more than prosperity. Hearing God in business decisions came up 127 times. Explicit prosperity talk came up only 19 times, and pushback against it slightly outnumbered support.
- The unicorn myth hurts. Founders spoke openly about burnout, depression and the pressure to "10x or die", and about finding an identity apart from success.
- Faith pushes back on some Asian scripts and makes room for others. The room consistently rejected shame-of-failure and "money is success" scripts. It found gentle, character-first ways to witness among Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist and secular colleagues.
- Community is the point. "Entrepreneurs struggle a lot… that's why the community is very important."
What themes come up most?
Every live sharing from participants was coded against a fixed list of 20 themes. The facilitator's voice is counted separately and left out here. These are the eight most common themes in participant sharings:
Prosperity & blessing appeared in just 19 sharings, the second-least common theme.
1. Hearing God in business decisions
Holy Spirit is my partner in this business… I just close my laptop and I say, okay, till You speak I will not do anything. And then He speaks… I'm not usually successful in the eyes of the world, but I'm so much at peace it's ridiculous.
We always go before God. We run faster than God… we want to achieve things faster, but we never check with God.
Over the last ten years that we have run an agency, there are at least three distinct points where God really came in with a client out of nowhere… every day we are living by grace.
2. The unicorn myth and the cost of hustle
It's always "be a unicorn, be a unicorn". VCs coming to you: you better 100x, or at least 10x… hustle, hustle. It led to that burnout.
God has not left His throne. God has not lost His power. God is no less God because my business has cratered.
I used to run an organisation of about 4.6 billion euros… When I came back at 40 and started my company, every decision I made was wrong. Very wrong… I pray a lot. Until today I'm still praying.
Read more in Don't worship work: burnout, hustle culture and Sabbath for Asian founders.
3. Rest as a starting point
The concept is not to rest from work, but rather to start working from that rest.
I've kept a Sabbath for 12 to 13 years now. It's actually the practice that has helped me accelerate.
4. Rewriting Asian scripts about success and failure
The traditional Chinese family always thought money is probably the most important thing. Success has to be successful; there's no other alternative… More recently it's just: who am I? And what does God want me to do?
Everybody thinks that to be a leader you must be the smartest, you must be the strongest. It's actually not true. A leader must be authentic, they must be vulnerable… And never forget God.
Especially in Singapore, if you are not aiming for a corporate job, you tend to be looked down upon… Then Jesus showed up in my life: "I created you for a reason."
5. Faith at work in a multi-faith city
I said, there's only one other thing I can do to help you have a successful outcome to the pitch: can I pray for you? Sometimes they'd say, "I'm not a Christian." I said, can I pray for you anyway?… I did it as an outflow of doing things well.
They are Muslim… they never heard who is Moses, Abraham. So I cannot go deeper… I can tell a story. Hopefully they are harvested by other people.
Your character is a reflection of who God is. I would prefer if people come to you and say: why are you like this? How come you have so much hope?
6. Integrity you can open the books on
I have nothing to hide. I tell you what it is. If you'd like to do business with me, then we're the right fit. If not, thank you very much.
The problem is the same… but how you address it, from what perspective you look at it, as a believer and a non-believer, is very different. We need to have a serving heart.
7. Why the room matters
The running joke: you want to be closer to God, be an entrepreneur. Every day you'll be praying for something… Entrepreneurs struggle a lot, it's very easy to give up, very easy to lose focus, and that's why the community is very important.
Vietnam is a very persecuted church. We get shut down by the police a lot. So seeing this happen is a real blessing and grace.
How we gathered these voices
All 22 recorded sessions on the Faith Driven Singapore YouTube channel were transcribed the same way. Each live sharing was then coded by question, theme and signal, and checked against its transcript. Curriculum films are excluded, and the facilitator's voice is counted separately from participants'. Quotes are lightly edited for readability, with filler words removed and omissions marked "…". Speakers are described by role, not by name. Transcripts come from speech recognition, so the recording is always the final word. Follow the links to hear each person say it.
Want the analysis? Read 7 insights from 22 Foundations sessions.
Questions about this research
What do Christian entrepreneurs in Singapore talk about most?
In 550 coded participant sharings from Faith Driven Singapore sessions, the most common themes were calling and vocation (187), Spirit guidance and prayer (127), wealth and stewardship (110), and identity apart from success (105).
Do faith-driven founders in Singapore believe in the prosperity gospel?
Rarely, in these rooms. Explicit prosperity talk appeared in only 19 of 550 participant sharings, and pushback against it slightly outnumbered support. The emphasis was on discernment, meaning hearing God in business decisions, rather than on blessing.
Where can I watch the sessions?
Every recorded session is on the Faith Driven Singapore YouTube channel. Each quote on this page links straight to its moment in the video, and the gatherings page lists every session.